WHAT a proud weekend for North-East sport as Newcastle Falcons' Kingston Park became the first club in the country to parade the rugby World Cup.

But as England's humble hero Jonny Wilkinson showed off the glittering Webb Ellis Trophy to a sell-out crowd of 10,000 on Tyneside on Saturday, the gulf between rugby and football was being further exposed by the actions of Blackburn Rovers' manager Graham Souness.

Souness told millions of television viewers at the weekend that he could not see what he had done wrong in suggesting to referee Graham Poll that he was biased.

Poll, in charge of Blackburn's 1-0 home win against Tottenham, rightly sent Souness from the dug-out for making the comment: "I didn't know you were a Tottenham supporter."

Instead of apologising, the Blackburn manager displayed a flair for talking out of the back of his head by saying referees should have more respect for managers and players instead of treating them like schoolboys.

Wouldn't you think that football would have learned some important lessons from rugby in the past week? Lessons in dignity and sportsmanship.

In rugby, it is inconceivable that a referee would have to put up with that kind of nonsense which is all too common in football. Referees are treated with respect because rugby's hallmark is a discipline which is sadly lacking in the money-mad world of modern football.

Souness is guilty of making the kind of juvenile comment that might be heard at a schoolboy match. We hope an FA charge follows which fines him and extends his ban from the touchline.

As for referees treating football managers and players like adults, perhaps if they stopped behaving like spoilt children, it might just happen.

Our advice to Graham Souness is this: Go and watch a rugby match - you might learn something.